


Plain as Day

by RocketKat123



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: F/M, Val and Danny are dealing with a lot, revelation fic, what should have happened after D-stabilized
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 03:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9104392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RocketKat123/pseuds/RocketKat123
Summary: There it was, plain as day. There was no way to deny it now.She had been hunting Danny Fenton this whole time.





	1. Valerie

**Author's Note:**

> Just a ficlet that popped into my head. First official fanfic on this site and it's so tiny. I'm almost embarrassed. Oh well. Enjoy if you can.

Danielle "Dani" Phantom

Ghost form:

Eyes: neon green

Hair: white

Skin tone: pale (same as in human form)

Clothes: black and white themed.

Human form:

Eyes: sky blue

Hair: jet black

Skin tone: same

Clothes: gray hoodie, red basketball shorts (the normal clothes for any twelve-year-old tomboy)

The lists were divided into two columns, human form and ghost form with words scribbled in haste.

Valerie was loath to admit that she had been staring at it for the better part of an hour. And she hated that she couldn't figure out what was bothering her.

Well, actually a lot of things were bothering her. Finding out that there was such a thing as a half-ghost half-human hybrid was bothering her, her boss being one was bothering her, the fact that said boss was just using her as a pawn was bothering her, and also her butt going numb from sitting so long in her crappy desk chair was bothering her.

It was only a few hours ago that she had dragged herself back into her room, her mind reeling. Everything she had known, everything she had almost held as a certainly had come crashing down. So, yes, there were a lot of things bothering her.

But at the back of her mind, something just at the edge of her awareness was particularly bothering her.

Valerie sighed and lifted her pen to make another list.

Vlad Masters/Plasmius

Ghost form:

Eyes: a really creepy pupil-less red

Hair: black

Skin tone: corpse blue (ew)

Clothes: red and white theme

Human form:

Eyes: blue

Hair: white

Skin tone: pale but normal

Clothes: a suit (literally always a suit)

She dully noted that hair color inverting was a trend, but nothing else.

Valerie looked between the two lists for a good five minutes, until she huffed in frustration and flipped to another page in her notebook. On it she wrote:

Things I Know About the Phantoms

-are at least related if not cousins

-look almost exactly alike except for gender

-act almost exactly alike

-Dani is a half-ghost half-human hybrid

-Danny Phantom is

Valerie's pen stopped, and she was shocked to realize that she didn't know what to write. She didn't know for certain what the elder Phantom was anymore.

She leaned back in her chair and stared up at the ceiling, as if it somehow would give her the answers to all her questions. She let out a sigh and went over it again in her head. Danny and Danielle were related, but how exactly? If they were related did that mean they were both hybrids or... Well, to be completely honest that was the only thing that really made sense. But did that mean that there was a whole clan of half-ghosts out there, or were the two Phantoms turned into half-ghosts through some freak accident? Also coming to the realization that the elder Phantom was most likely a hybrid as well brought forth another question. If Danny Phantom was a half-ghost then who was his human half?

Was that it? Was that what was bothering her?

Valerie let out a another sigh and went back to her first list. Dani had white hair and green eyes as a ghost and had black her and blue eyes as a human.

Valerie could have thrown the note-book across the room at that point. It was right there in front of her, she knew it. It had to do with Dani's appearance, she was sure now. If Dani had black hair and blue eyes in human form did that mean that Danny Phantom also had black hair and blue eyes in human form? If that was so, then who did she know that had those same features?

Valerie suddenly went rigid as an image of a certain boy with those exact same attributes popped into her head.

"Oh my god. No, no, no!" she said in a horrified whisper.

She stood up and frantically paced around her room, simply because she couldn't stand the inaction of her body while her mind was going a million miles an hour.

"He can't be, he just can't be! I couldn't have been hunting him!" She was practically screaming now. It was a good thing that her father had already left for his shift or he would have rushed right in wondering why his daughter was screaming.

Getting and idea, Valerie grabbed her phone and flipped through the pictures looking only for one. When she got to it, she set her phone down on her desk and dove under her bed for another photo. Pulling out a shoebox she had stuffed all her photos for "research" in after her dad's last fit over her ghost hunting, she quickly picked one off the top. It was clipped out of the news paper about a month ago.

Valerie went back to her phone and held it up next to the photo. She looked closely between them and let out a sob. There it was, plain as day. There was no way to deny it now.

She had been hunting Danny Fenton this whole time.


	2. Danny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so originally I had planned to leave this as a one shot, but thanks to the person that commented I got inspired to write another chapter, and I whipped this up right quick.

Danny wasn't asleep despite the fact that the time was almost twelve midnight. His brain was too busy thinking for sleep, even though he just wanted it to shut up for once and let him rest.

No matter his wishes, his mind kept screaming, _what if she found out, what if she found out, **what if she found out!?**_ What _would_ happen if she found out? Would she still want to kill him for ruining her and her father's finances, or would she keep to what she said before, that she didn't kill humans? Maybe Valerie had spared Dani because she had noting against the younger half-ghost. Danny Phantom on the other hand, she had strong feelings for, and not the good kind. But...they had also been friends...and then maybe even a little more than just friends.

Danny let out a sigh that morphed into a groan somewhere in the middle and rolled over again.

He was still nowhere near sleep when he heard a knock. He thought at first it came from his door, but when it came again, this time a little more forcefully, he realized someone was knocking on his window. Frowning, he got out of bed and cautiously went to the window. He honestly hadn't known what to expect when he threw open the curtains, but the black and red suit of the Red Huntress on her hover board was definitely not it.

Danny yelped, and when he backed up too fast from the window, he tripped over his rug, making an unfortunately loud crash when his hind quarters hit the floor. Both him and the suited figure outside his window froze and listened for any other noises that might signal that someone had been woken by the crash. When no one seemed to stir, Danny picked himself up and went back to the window.

"What are you doing here?" he said, opening the window just a crack so she could hear him better. He didn't dare open it more; he was too fearful of what she was there for.

"I'm just here to talk, so open up," she said, voice distorted and mechanical sounding.

Danny's fingers twitched on the windowsill. "Um, I don't think it would be a good idea to let a complete stranger in my room in the middle of the night," he stammered out.

"Cut the crap, Danny _Phantom_. You've probably known it was me this whole time haven't you?" she said.

Danny's eyes flew wide. "You--how do you know?" He asked in a horrified whisper.

"It wasn't hard. After our little fiasco with Masters slash Plasmius all the pieces were right there in front of me," she said.

"Wait, you know about Vlad too?"

She gave a sigh that sounded weird coming through the speakers in her mask. "Yes, and I'll explain in a minute if you let me in."

Danny found himself taking an unconscious step back. "I, um, don't--"

"Look, I'm not here to fight, if that's what you think. I don't hunt humans. I already told you that," she said sincerely. "And you don't have to worry about me telling anyone about you. My lips are sealed."

Danny deliberated for another moment then opened his window all the way. Before the Red Huntress could fly in he stuck his head out and said, "Hey, it would probably be a better idea for us to go someplace else to talk. I wouldn't want anybody to wake up and come in to find me talking to you."

"Good idea," she said flatly.

Danny closed his window, transformed, and then phased through the glass. They floated in the air simply looking at each other for a moment. Danny was worried that she wouldn't keep her word until she said, "All right, lead the way."

Danny nodded and flew towards the park, the huntress right behind him. He touched down near an old gnarled oak that stood in a secluded part of the park off the hiking trail. The Red Huntress's suit retracted, dematerializing back into nano-bites into her bloodstream, to reveal Valerie Gray. She said nothing and went over to sit down, her back propped up by the trunk of the old oak tree.

Danny became a little worried when she continued to sit and simply stare off into space. "Uh, Val, you okay?" He asked.

Two rings of light appeared and Phantom's black and white jumpsuit was gone. He yelped when he realized that he was still in his boxers and a wife-beater and transformed back.

Valerie snapped out of her daze and began to laugh hysterically. "Oh...my...god, you are such a dork!" She said in between giggles.

She stopped laughing, seemingly spotting something. Curiosity entered her expression. "Your face is turning green," she stated.

"Oh, uh, it is?" Danny stammered.

"Yeah, it is," she said and stood up again. She came closer to inspect him more closely, making Danny fidget under her scrutiny. A smirk suddenly lifted the corners of her lips. "Are you...blushing?" she asked, her smile turning into a full grin.

"No!" Danny said indignantly and floated a foot away from her. He was trying very hard not to smile himself, Valerie's was so infectious.

"You are!" She said and found herself in another fit of giggles.

Finally her mirth petered out with a sigh, not a gloomy or tired sigh, but one that was wistful and nostalgic.

"It's almost like the old days again," she murmured mostly to herself.

They stood there for a good moment, Valerie looking to the ground in deep thought, and Danny carefully watching her expression.

"You know," Danny said, making Valerie look up at him again, "Those days...don't have to be over....now that you know about me."

"Maybe," Valerie said. Her face suddenly hardened. "But before that, I need some answers."

"A-anything you want, ask away. It's the least you deserve," he said a little too eagerly.

Valerie didn't seem to share his enthusiasm, and her eyes drifted to the ground once more. "I don't deserve anything," she muttered, almost too quietly for Danny to hear even with his advanced senses.

She drew in a steadying breath, and her face returned to her signature determined look. "All right, I need to know how you and Danielle became half-ghosts."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "That's kind of a long story. Do you mind if I ask you a quick question first?"

Valerie crossed her arms and said, "All right, fine. Shoot."

"How did you know Vlad was Plasmius? I mean, I get how you figured out I was a half-ghost, but you saw Vlad and Plasmius at the same time," Danny asked.

"I went back to make sure Mr. Masters was okay. He didn't know that I was watching, and he transformed right in front of me. I flew out of there as fast as I could," she answered quickly. "You're turn."

Danny sighed, not wanting to go over it again. He still got flashbacks from the portal incident occasionally.

"All right," he said crossing his legs in mid-air, which made Valerie look at him strangely. "Here it goes. My parents are ghost hunters and scientists and they built a ghost portal as you know."

"Yeah, and speaking of them, do they know all the destruction that the ghosts cause? If they do, how can they sleep at night knowing their--"

"Hey, hey, don't get all salty with my parents. It's not their fault. The ghost portal can't be closed now, anyway. It's self-sustaining, and all the ghosts that are in Amity Park don't even come from the one in my parents lab. The opening of the portal triggered a...weakening in the Vale, as my parents like to call it, and so there is a large amount of random impermanent portals opening up all the time."

Valerie let out an exasperated huff. "Okay, my bad. Please continue."

Danny drew in a deep breath. "Anyway, at first when my parents were just getting finished with the portal, it wouldn't work. So me and my dumbass thought it wouldn't be dangerous." Danny stopped and shut his eyes as there was a flash of imaginary light across his vision. He shuddered at the echoes of the pain he had felt. Swallowing hard, he opened his eyes again. "I walked into the portal and accidentally started it," he said in a small voice.

Valerie's eyes widened at the implications. "You were inside...when it started..." Danny watched her reactions. She looked like she was trying to wrap her head around what that meant, or perhaps trying to picture it in her mind.

"Okay..." She said, slowly letting out a breath. "That explains how it happened to you pretty well, but what about Danielle? You look exactly alike, almost like your twins...or clones...or..." She trailed off, her eyes widening. Danny watched fascinated as the wheels turned in her head. He had never really realized how clever Valerie was before this.

"Yeah, she is sort of my clone, but kind of like a...well I don't want to say defective...but she's not a true clone because she's a girl," Danny explained.

Valerie's face darkened. "And let me guess, Vlad made her."

"Yeah, and about Vlad, you have to be extra careful around him now. You can't let him know you know," Danny said quickly.

Valerie scoffed. "You think I don't know that? Do you think I'm an idiot or something?"

Danny sighed and floated past Valerie to the old oak. He sat down as she had and said, "No, you are definitely not an idiot, but neither is Vlad. When he's not distracted by his obsessions, he's scary smart, and he can read people like a book. You can't show the slightest bit of hesitation when he sends you out on a mission."

"What are you saying?" Valerie asked incredulously, "That I should still work for that maniac?"

"Yes," Danny said looking at her intensely.

Valerie huffed and went to sit down beside him. "I am not going to hunt you anymore," she said matter-of-factly. "If I had known from the beginning I never would have."

"Valerie, look, you don't mean anything to him except that you're his pawn. He might kill you if he finds out you know about him and me," Danny said fervently. He hadn't even realized that he had grabbed her shoulders until he looked down at his hands.

He let go and floated a few feet away, turning his back to her. It still felt odd turning his back to the girl who was the Red Huntress, but he didn't want her to see the swirl of emotions on his face.

"Why do you care so much?" she asked. There were some shifting sounds that he asumed was her getting up again. He didn't move as she walked up beside him, only turning his face away. "I hunted you for so long. You should hate me," she said with guilt plain in her voice.

"I don't think I could hate you even if I tried," he said quietly. "In fact, I..." He trailed off, biting his lip.

"You what?" Valerie demanded coming to stand in front of him.

Danny let out an exasperated huff. "I think I..." He trailed off and gave a nervous laugh then sobered again in an instant. Still unable to meet her eyes, he whispered, "I think I still have feelings for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thing pretty much just wrote itself. I honestly had not intended for this story to have any romantic implications whatsoever, but here it is.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, and there it is. Honestly, it should have been so easy for Valerie to figure it out after D-stabilized. I really wish Butch had written a proper revelation for poor Val, but all she got was a tiny cameo in *shudder* Phantom Planet.


End file.
